Starting device.



H. HENKEN. STARTING DEVICE. 1

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 16, 1911.

Patented June 11, 1912.

E WWW oration.

HENRY HENKEN, OF SAVANNAH. GEORGIA.

STARTING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J une 11, 1912.

Application filed January 16. 1911. Serial No. 603,035.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY l-lnNKnN, a

. citizen of the United States. residingat Savannah, in the county of Chatham and State of Georgia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Starting'Devices, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to starting devices for hydrocarbon engines, being especially shaft and of the starting crank, which latter is liable to injure the operator before. it can be disengaged from the engine shaft. {To remedy this fault and eliminate the danger above mentioned. safety starting cranks have'been heretofore proposed designed to disengage the starting crank from the engine shaft under a turning movementof the latter in either direction; and the object of the present invention is 'to provide an improved and simplified mechanism of this class, which shall insure the certain separation of the starting crank from the engine shaft under such a slight extent of backwardmovement of the latter as shall prevent danger of injury to the operator.

To this end my invent-ion consists in a new and improved safety starting mechanism substantially as hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

My invention, in an improved mechanical form, is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein, Figure 1, represents a View of the mechanism in side elevation and parts being broken away. Fig. 2, represents a vertical transverse sectional View on the plane indicated by the broken line 22, of Fig. 1. Fig. 3, represents a vertical transverse sectional view on the plane indicated by the broken line 1-1, Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrow 3, and Fig. 4, repi nt-s a view similar to that of Fig. 3, on the same plane, but looking in the direction of the arrow 4-.

. ,Lilre reference characters mark'the same parts wherever they occur in the several figures of the drawing.

Referring specifically to the drawing. 3 designates one end portion of the engine shaft shown as mounted in a suitable jour- Hal 6 formed on a portion of a supporting frame 7. To the end of theengine shaft secured a clutch member in the form of a collar 8, on the outer face of which is an annular series of clutch teeth 9. llotat-ably mounted in journals 10 and 11 is the starling shaft 12, said shaft being disposed in endwise alinemont with the engine shaft 3. On the inner end of the starting shaft 12 is loosely mounted a clutch member in the form of a collar "13, having on its inner end an annular series of clutch teeth 1-1. cooperating with clutch teeth 9. of the collar 8, and on its outer end, an annular series of clutch teeth 15. -Hountcd on the starting shaft 12 is a. collar 16 which is provided on'its inner face with an annular series of clutch teeth 17, cooperating with the clutch teeth 15 on the inner'face of the collar 13.

The starting shaft 12 is threaded at 18 and upon this thread is mounted a nut 19 between which, and the, collar 16. an expanding spring 20 is coiled about the shaft 12. The spring 20 serves to normally and yieldingly press the collar 16 which is slidable, but not rotatable on the shaft 12, along said shaft inwardly, and to cause the teeth 17 to engage the teeth 15 of the collar 13, the collar 13 being mounted loosely, to both slide and rotate freely on the starting. shaft 12, and the collar 8, being rigidly secured on the engine shaft 5. The collar 16 is slidabl-y keyed to the shaft 12 by the key 16 fitting in the groove 16" of the crank shaft 12 It will be observed that the positively acting faces of the teeth 15 and 17 are faced in the opposite direction, circinnferentially of their respective collars, from the positively acting faces of the teeth 9 and 14, and that the stress of the spring 20 will be increased by turning the nut 19 inwardly on the shaft 12 and correspondingly decreased by turning it outwardly thereon. A ratchet wheel or collar 21 is rigidly mounped upon the shaft 12 and upon a suitable pivotal pin 22 is mounted a pawl 23 yieldingly held in contactwith the-ratchet wheel, by a suit-able spring 2t, Fig. 2, the teeth and pawl being arranged to permit of the forward rotation of the shaft- 12, to the right, by means of a suitable crank 25 secured upon its outer end,

-but' to prevent the backward rotation, to the left, in a well known manner,

When the engine is to be started, the start-- ing shaft is pressed inward to engage teeth 9 and 14 and bring the parts to the positions indicated in'Fi'g. 1, when the crank 25 is turned to the right,a'nd the nut; 19 having been turned inwardly far enough to so increase. the tension to an extentv to cause collars 16 and-13 to turn with each other the engine shaft is turned, or cranked in the usual manner- After the engine has been started a forwardly direction, the teeth '19 of the collar .8 will overrun teeth 14 of collar13, forcing. the starting device to slide away in-a longitudinal direction, thus dis-- connecting same. from the enginev in the usual well known manner', the nut 26 preventing longitudinal inward displacement ofthe collar 13 with relation to the crank shaft. Shouldthe engine back fire during the cranking peration, and the shaft start to-rotate bac ward, the teeth 15'will slide over teeth 17 with sufiicient force to slide collar 16 outward on shaft 12, overcoming the tension of spring 20" and thus permit the operator to retain his hold on the crank and thus avoid injury to himself, or to the'machine, by the rapid backward rotation of shaft 12 which would otherwise occur. v

It. will be observed that the rotation of the cranking shaft is yieldinglytransmitted to the engine shaft so that the rotation of the latter will not be communicated to .the former in the eventof extraordinary resistance due to breakage orwrong adjustment of parts thus avoiding another source of trouble. The teeth 14 and 9 between collars 13 andS will slip with less resistance than the 12661511 15 of collars 13 and 16 so that the overru'nning forwardly of the en'- gine shaft will be easy, and not tend too strongly, to carry the cranking shaft with it. The inclination of the teeth 15 and 17 on collars 13 and 16 is more abrupt, and the resistance they offer, .due to the springs 20, to sliding over each other, is sufiicient to ro tate-the engine shaft 5 under all ordinary circumstances, while they may islipover each other toavoid accident.

.To provide means whereby endwise movement of thestartingslia'ftis permitted, the width of the ratchet wheel or collar 21 is made less than -the distance between the bearings 10 and 11, as shown in Fig. L

The. collarl3, is limited in its inward movement on the starting shaft under the stress of spring 20,1by a nut 26 on the threaded to inner endof the starting shaft 12, so that when the starting shaft is in its normal outward position, in which the ratchet wheel or drum 21 will be in contact with the journalp'late 11, the teeth 14 of collar 13 will be put "of contact with the teeth 9 of collar 8 during the rotation of shaft 5 in running the machine,

-While I have described specifically the parts of the embodiment of my invention herein illustrated, it will be obvious to those mounted on the cranking shaft and adapted to have its clutchteeth at its inner. endengage with the clutch teeth of the clutch collar on-the-engine shaft, a clutch collar "slidably mounted on the cranking shaft in advance of said double-ended clutch member with the clutching teeth of the last mentionedclutch collar being adapted to engage the clutch teeth at the outer end of the double-ended clutch member, the teeth at the outerend ofsaid clutch member being disposed on a plane opposite tothe plane of the clutching teeth at the inner end of the double-cndedclutch member with theteeth of the clutch collar of the engine shaft and the teeth of the-clutch collar. of the cranking shaft being correspondingly formed for cotiperation with the clutching teeth of the double-ended clutch member and with the clutch teeth at the outer end of the doubleended clutch ,member formed more abrupt than the teeth at the inner end of the clutch member, a nut-on the cranking shaft in alinement with :said clutch member and clutch collars, and a spring coiled around the cranking. shaft "between said nut and the outer end of the clutch collar of the cranking shaft to hold, the latter clutch collar and the double-ended clutch member in cooperative relation, whereby the crank gine shaft and whereby in the event of. back firing of the engine shaft'when rotat-v ing the latter to start the engine the teeth at the outer end of the double-ended clutch member will ride over the teeth of the clutch collar on :thecranking shaft.

2. In a cranking device for engines, the combination with an engine shaft having a clutch collar rigidly secured thereon, of

a cranking shaft in alinement with the en-- gine shaft, a double-ended clutch member slidably and rotatably mounted on the cranking shaft with the teeth at. its inner end adapted to engage the teeth of the clutch collar on the engine shaft, a clutch jcollar slidably mounted on the cranking shaft in front of the double-ended clutch 1ng shaft may be rotated-to start the ennut secured to the reduced, screw threaded inner end of the cranking shaft to form a stop to limit the sliding movement'of the double-ended clutch member inwardly of the cranking shaft when the latter is in its normal posltion.

3. In a cranking device for engines, the combination with the engine shaft and a clutch collar rigidly secured thereon, of a cranking shaft in alinement with the engine shaft, a clutch collar loosely mounted on the cranking shaft adapted to engage with the clutch collar on the engine shaft, a third clutch collar slidably mounted on the cranking shaft and adapted to engage the loose clutch collar, a nut threaded on'the cranking shaft, and a spring coiled around the cranking shaft between the nut and the Copies ofthis patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

slidable clutch collar and means whereby the cranking shaft may be rotated.

,4. In a cranking device for engines, the

combination withv the engine shaft and a clutch collar rigidly secured thereon, of a cranking shaft in alinementwith the'engine shaft, a clutch collar loosely mounted on the cranking shaft adapted to engage with the clutch collar on the engineshaft, a third clutch collar slidably mounted on the cranking shaft'a'nd adapted to engage the loose clutch collar, a nut threaded on the cranking shaft, a spring coiled around thercranking shaft between the nut and the slidable clutch collar, two bearings for the cranking shaft, and ratchet mechanism comprising a HENRY HENKEN. Witnesses R. Rooms, B. G. GAILLARD.

' Washington, D. C.

ratchet collar on the shaft between said 

